FROZEN MEAT TRADE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10723, 22 October 1928, Page 7

FROZEN MEAT TRADE

DEVELOPMENT IN HEW ZEALANH.

MARKETING 'PROBLEMS 1M EARLY DAYS,

WHAT '.REFRIGERATION HAS .MEANT.FOII DOMINION.

-,. ln tho -early- days -of • settlement,, ‘writfeS Mr, V: A. Thompson, B. Com. F.i1.E.0. ill the ILB. Tribune, no problem existed as to the disposal fit the Surplus stock. First of all, they were absorbed by the increase in the HrGsL Of holdings, and later oh by the needs of the V'oops employed in" the Maori Wars in the Worth Island, or hy the requirements of the 'populous goldfields ill the Eolith Island. In March 1861, 1700 sheep whre shipped' from Hawke’s Bay to Otago, no doufc-t to satisfy the demands of the huge influx of population to the gold-diggings there However, this demand from outside the province could not'be of long duration. That the problem soon reasserted itself is shown by tne fact that it is stated in the Hawke's Bay “Herald" Of 24th. March 1868 that New Zealand' wfls Suffering from a general depression—there were, immense surplus flocks, a.d wool had fallen one-third in v&iue. The problem of w'hat to do with these su l plus flocks was. for many yeans a pressing one, aiid in many coastal rims old sheep, after shearing, met .the same fate as the Gadarene swine. It. is related of Mr. William Nelson that 6n one ocoasion, after a severe drought, he had about 3,0C0 prime, wethers oh' the road, when he was met by a stranger who stopped to look, at the sheep. Thinking he might be a buyer Mr. Nelson asked is he would purchase them at 2s Gd a head." The reply Being in the negative, Mr. Nelson quoted Is a head with the same result. Finally, the stranger was told he .could have them for nothing, to which he answered: “What can I do v.ith them?” BOILING DOWN OF SURPLUS STUCK. In April, 1868 a boiling-down works was opened at Meeanee, where as many as 3,000 sheen were treated in a week. The first sheep to he boiled down w r ere a lot of 400 wethers, averaging 49lbs. in weight, belonging to Mr, William Nelson. A somewhat jubilant tone is to be detected in the report given in the Hawke’s Bay “Herald” of 11th. April 1868, of the opening of these works. It was stated that from the 400 sheep mentioned a yield of 14 casks of superior tallow was obtained say three tons in all. which at 4d per 18. gave £ll2, or fully 5s 6d per head: and that the price obtained for the skins should cover expenses. Prime legs of mutton from these works were for a long, time hawked in the streets or Napier at one shilling each, and it is not surprising to learn that the supply was not equal to the demand. The addition of a meat-preserving branch to this factory was contemplated soon after its opening, of this I have been unable to find any record in the Napier paper, and at all events it was not until 1878 that any preserved meat was exported from Napier.

NEW ZEALAND’S FIRST

SHIPMENT

The first- shipment from New Zealand was made by the New Zealand and Australian Land Company. The company arranged to have the sailing ship “Dunedin,” of the Albion Shipping Company, fitted with a Belf-Coleman cold air compression machine, together, with the necessary insulation. Mr. Thomas - Brydone. the Superintendent for the Land Compimy, first visited the freezing works at Melbourne and Orange (N.S. W.) to obtain information concerning the freezing of meat, which of course was a matter about which very little was known in New Zealand at the time. Slaughterhouses were erected on the Company’s estate at Totara, near Oamaru, and when the ship was ready to load at Fort Chalmers the killing began. Specially-constructed railway-vans, fitted with ventilators and ice-chests were used to convey the meat to the port, some .sixty miles distant, and on arrival the carcases were taken on hoard the ship and there frozen, afterwards being stowed as closely as they could be packed. Loading began on December 7th., ISBI. but on the 11th. there was a breakdown of the machinery and the frozen carcases had to be discharged and sold. Thus the people of Otago were the first to consume New Zealand frozen meat. Repairs having been effected, the loading was proceeded with; and on February lltli.. ISB2- was complete, the ship sailing on the 15thInsurance against all risks was effected .with Messrs William Ewing and Co., of Glasgow, at five guineas per cent. During tlxu voyage, the master, Captain Whitson, Had a rather trying time, having on one occasion gone into the air-circulating trunk to cut new openings, fearing that the ship’s being for a long time on one tack would interfere with the circulation of the cold air, and being nearly frozen himself in the process. 1 understand he was rescued by the chief officer who 1 crawled in after him, tied a rope round his feet, and hauled him out backwards.

MEAT ARRIVES' IN EXCELLENT

CONDITION

The ship arrived in London on May 24, and notwithstanding fthe long passage of 98 days the meat was in excellent condition, being declared by Mr. Grigs to be “as perfect as meat could be. 5 ’

Included in the shipment were a

few carcases of mutton and lamb consigned by Mr. John Grigg, of Longbeach, to his son, Mr. J. C. N. Grigg, then at Cambridge. The latter stored the meat in a fishmonger's ice room, afterwards getting liis college coofe who promised not to let anyone else into the secret, to roast it. ft was served cold the next day to a boat’s crew whom Mr. Grigg was at luncheon. It was only natural that men undergoing hard training should, want two helpings; tilt one of them, having finished /the second, said: “Grigg yon must think me d d greedy,

but that lamb is so good that I am going to have a third helping.” It was then that Mr. Grigg told his party where the meat came from, and it is not surprising to learn that they were astonished.

A PROVED FINANCIAL SUCCESS

The cargo, consisting of 3,521 carcases mutton. 449 carcases lamb, and 22 carcases pork, realised the sum of £8,009 14s 3d, being approximately 6d. to 6Jd per ]b. for the mutton, 6J to 7£d for the lamb, and 6.2-5 d for the pork. The expenses, ‘including freight at 2Jd per lb, amounted to £3,793 2s 4d, giving a return in Port Chalmers of nearly 21s per' sheep and;lQs 9d per lamb (approximately 3Jd per lb, for each). As a result of the success of this shipment, for which a bonus of £SOO was awarded by the New Zealand Government, other, shipments _ followed, although’it. was not until, two years later that the first shipment was made from Hawke’s Rav. Companies were, soon formed for the purpose of entering into the business of freezing' meat for export and m 1881 wafu commenced the building of the first freezing works hi New" Zealand, ■that of the N. 3. Refrigerating Co. at 1 Burnside, near Dunedin'. Until 1 ' /n ' ■ \

;hese works were completed the feezing of all the meat shipments, if course, took place on board the ;iiipa.

Ill: WILLIAM NELSON'S GREAT PIONEERING WORK.

Mr. William Nelson, v hose name must be included among those of the p oneers of the frozen meat trade, arrived in New Zealand in 1562, and devoted himself to sheep-farming in Hawke’s Bay. In 1875 he visited England to "experiment m connection with methdQs of meat-preserv-ing, and finally perfected a process which, on his return to New Zealand. he instituted In the work.* which he commenced at Toinoana in iSSf, and which were a great advance on the works of the kind then existing, 'hr. 1883 was. formed a company, styled “Nelson Bros. Ltd.” to extend, the works for the purpose of commencing the business of refrigeration. ;thc initial capital being £160,000. The original capacity of inese works was 400 _ sheep per day, but with characteristic foresight, Mr. Nelson had arranged matters so that the daily killing capacity could be readily increased to SCO The idea that daily killings of even 4UO. could t>e maintained was openly ridiculed at the tune, nevertheless. in the first season Messrs Nelson jji'OS. shipped 40,000 carcases.